psychological explanation- forensic psychology

Question 1

what is the personality theory

Answer 1

eysenck- important figure in personality and intelligence research during middle of 20th cent
proposed behaviour represented along two dimensions-introversion-extraversion and neuroticism-stability
two dimensions combine to form variety of personality characteristics or traits
later added thrid dimension-psychoticism-sociability

Question 2

what is the biological basis

Answer 2

personality traits biological in origin and come about rhrough type of nervous system inherit
personlity types including criminal personality type have innate biological basis
extraverts-underactive nervous system constantly seek excitment stimulation and likely to engage in risk taking behaviours, tend not to condition easily and dont learn from mistakes
neurotic- high level reactivity in sympathetic nervous system respond quickly to situations of threat tend to be nervous jumpy and overanxious general instability means behaviour difficult to predict
psychotic- higher levels testosterone unemotional and prone to aggression

Question 3

what is the criminal personality

Answer 3

neurotic-extravert-psychotic
neurotics unstable and prone to overreact situations of threat
extraverts seek arousal and engage in dangeriys activity
psychotics aggressive and lack empathy

Question 4

what is the role of socialisation

Answer 4

personality linked offending behaviour via socialisation processes
saw offending behaviour developmentally immature selfish and concerned with immediate gratification offenders impatient and cant wait for things
process socialisation children taught to become more able to delay gratification and more socially orientated
believed people with high E and N scores had nervous systems made them difficult to condition- less likely learn anxiety responses to antisocial impulses and more likely act antisocially situations where opportunity presented itself

Question 5

what is measuring criminal personality

Answer 5

notion personality can be measured one that is central to theory
developed eysenck personality questionnaire form of psychological test which locates respondents along E N and P dimensions determine personality type
measurement of personality important part in theory enabled conduct research relating personality variables to other behaviours

Question 6

what is the research support (eysenck theory)

Answer 6

evidence support criminal personality
eysenck and eysenck compared 2070 prisoners scores of EPQ with 2422 controls
measures of extraversion neuroticism and psychoticism acorss all age groups that were sampled prisoners recorded higher average scores than controls
agrees with predictions of theory offenders rate higher than average across three dimensions eysenck identified

farrington conducted meta analysis relevant studies and reported offenders tended score high on measures of psychoticism but not extraversion and neuroticism
inconsistent evidence of differences on EEG measures between extraverts and introverts catss doubt on physiological basis of eysenck theory
some central assumptions of criminal personality challenged

Question 7

what is too simplistic (eysenck theory)

Answer 7

all offending behaviour explained by personality traits alone
moffitt-drew distinction between offending behaviour only occurs in adolescence and that which continues into adulthood
personality traits poor predictor of how long offending behaviour would go on for in the sense of whether someone is likely to become career offender
considered persistence in offending behaviour to be result of reciprocal process between individual personality traits and environmental reactions to traits
presents complex picture than eysenck course of offending behaviour determined by interaction between personality and environment

Question 8

what is cultural factors (eysenck theory)

Answer 8

cultural factors not taken into account
criminal personality according to culture
bartol and holachock studied hispanic and african american offenders in max security prison in new york
researchers divided offenders in 6 groups based on offending hisory and nature of offences
found 6 groups ess extravert than non offender control group but eysenck expect to be more extravert
suggested this was because sample different cultural group from investigated by eysenck
questions how far criminal personality can be generalised and suggests may be culturally relative concept

Question 9

what is measuring personality (eysenck theory)

Answer 9

offers way to measure personality through use of psychological test EPQ
see how criminal personality differs from rest of pop. across different dimensions

personality type may not be reducible to score in this way
suggestion that personality too complex and dynamic to be quantified
would also apply to personality deemed to be criminal

Question 10

what is moral development

Answer 10

kohlberg- first researcher apply concept of moral reasoning offending behaviour
proposed peoples decisions and judgements on issues of right and wrong can be summarised in stage theory of moral reasoning
higher stage more sophisticated reasoning
kohlberg based theory of peoples responses to series of moral dilemmas
studies suggested that offenders tend to show lower level of mroal reasoning than non offenders
kohlberg found group of violent youths were significantly lower level of moral developent than non violent youths even after controlling for social background

Question 11

what is link with criminality

Answer 11

offenders more likely to be classified at pre conventional level non offenders generally progressed to conventional level and beyond
preconventional level characterised need to avoid punishment and gainr rewards and associated with less mature childlike reasoning may commit crime if can get away with it or gain rewards in form of money increased respect etc
assumtion supported by studies suggest offenders more egocentric and display poorer social perspective taking skills than non offender peers
individuals who reason at higher levels tend to sympathise more with the rights of others and exhibit more conventional behaviours such as honesty generosity and non violence

Question 12

what is cognitive distortions

Answer 12

errors or biases peoples info processing system characterised by faulty thinking
occasionally show evidence faulty thinking explaining own behaviour
research linked to the way offenders interpret other peoples behaviour and justify their own actions
eg hostile attribution and minimalisation

Question 13

what is hostile attribution bias

Answer 13

evidence suggests propensity for violence associated with tendency to misinterpret actions of other people
assume others are being confrontational when not
offenders misread non aggresive cues and may trigger disproportionate response
schonenberg and jusyte present 55 violent offenders with images of emotioanlly ambigious facial expressions
when compared non aggressive matched control group that violent offenders more likely perceive images as angry and hostile
roots of behaviour apparent in childhood
dodge and frame showed children vid of ambigious provacation
children had been identified as aggressive and rejected prior to study interpreted situation as more hostile than those classed as non aggressive and accepted

Question 14

what is minimalisation

Answer 14

attempt to deny or downplay seriousness of offence and has elsewhere been referred to as application of euphemistic label for behaviour
burglars describe themselves as doing a kob or supporting my family as way of minimising seriousness of offences
studies suggest individuals commit sexual offeces partucularly prone to minimilsation
barbaree found 26 incarcerated rapists 54% denied they had committed offence at all and further 40% minimised harm caused victim

Question 15

what is the research support

Answer 15

link between level of moral reasoning and crime
palmer and hollin compared moral reasoning in 332 non offenders and 126 convicted offenders using socio moral reflection measure short form contains 11 moral dilemma related questions
offender group showed less mature moral reasoning than non offender group
consistent with kohlbergs predictions

Question 16

what is type of offence

Answer 16

level of moral reasoning may depend on offence
thornton and reid found people committed crimes for financial gain more likely to show preconventional moral reasoning than convicted of impusive crimes
pre conventional moral reasoning tends to associated with crimes offenders believe they have good chance of evading punishment
suggests kohlbergs may not apply all forms of crime

Question 17

what is thinking versus behaviour

Answer 17

useful provides insight into mechanics of criminal mind that offenders may be more childlike and egocentric when comes to making moral judgements than law abiding

moral thinking not same moral behaviour
moral reasoning more likely used justify behaviour after it has happened

Question 18

what is the real world application (cognitive distortions)

Answer 18

application to therapy
aims to challenge irrational
offenders encoyraged face up to what they have done and establish less distorted view of actions
studies suggest reduced incidence of denial and minimalisation in therapy is highly associated with reduced risk of reoffending
suggests theory has practical value

Question 19

what is the type of offence (cognitive distortions)

Answer 19

level deoends on type of offence
howitt and sheldon gathered questionnaire responses from sexual offenders, found that non contact sex offenders used more cognitive distortions than contact sex offenders
previous history of offending more likely use disotrtions as justification
suggests distortions not used in same way by all offenders

Question 20

what is descriptive or explanatory (cognitive distortions)

Answer 20

good at describing criminal mind
may also help reducing reoffending long term as understanding offenders minimalise crimes may be useful startig point in therapy

do not help in predicting future offending behaviour because someone tends to have dusrtoed thinking doesnt mean they will become offender

Question 21

what is the heinz dilemma

Answer 21

kohlberg used
woman near death from special kind of cancer
one drug that doctors thought might save her was form of radium that druggist in same town recently discovered
drug expensive to make but driggist was charging ten times what drug cost to make
paid 400 for radium and charged 4000 or small dose of drug
sick womans husban Heinz went to everyone he knew to borrow money bt could only get together about 2000 which was half of what drug cost
told druggist that wife was dying and asked to sell it cheaper or let him pay later but druggust said no i discovered drug and im going t make money from it
heinz got desperate and considered breaking into mans store to steal drug for wife
participants asked various questions including should heinz steal the drug why or why not does the druggist have right to charge what he likes for drug what is dying person were stranger should he steal the drug

Question 22

what are the different levels

Answer 22

preconventional morality- stage 1- punishment orientation rules are obeyed to avoid punishment, stage 2 instrumental orientation or persoanl gain rules are obeyed for personal gain
conventional morality- stage 3 good boy or good girl orientation rules are obeyed for approval, stage 4 maintenance of social order rules are obeyed to maintain social order
post conventional morality- stage 5 morality of contract and individual rights rules are challenged if they infringe on the rights of others, stage 6 morality of conscience individuals have personal set of ethical pricniples

Question 23

what is differential association theory

Answer 23

proposes individuals learn values attitudes techniques and motives for offending behaviour through association and interaction with different people

Question 24

what is the scientific basis

Answer 24

sutherland-task of developing set of scientific principles oculd explain all types of offending- ‘the conditions which are said to cause crime should be present when crime is present and they should be absent when crime is absent’
theory designed to discriminate between individuals who become offenders and dont whatever their social class or ethnic background

Question 25

what is offending as learned behaviour

Answer 25

may be acquired same way as any other behaviour
learning occurs most often through interactions with others who the child values most and spends most time with
suggests it should be possible to mathematically predict how likely it is individual commit offences- need frequency intensity and duration of exposure to deviant and non deviant norms and values
offending arrises from two factors- learned attitudes towards offending and learning of specific offending acts and techniques

Question 26

what is learning attitudes

Answer 26

person socialised into group exposed to values and attitudes towards law- pro crime or anti crime
sutherland- number of pro criminal attitudes the person comes to acquire outweights number of anti criminal attitudes they will go on to offend
learning process is the same whether a person is learning offending or conformity to the law

Question 27

what are learning techniques

Answer 27

would be offender may learn particular techniques for committing offences
might include how to break into house through locked window or how to disable car stereo before stealing it

Question 28

what is socialisation in prison

Answer 28

sutherland-why convicts released from prison go on to reoffend
assume that inside prison inmates learn specific texhniques of offending from each other
more experienced offenders that may put into practice upon their release
learning may occur through observational learning and imitation or direct tuition from offending peers

Question 29

what is farringtons study

Answer 29

cambridge study in delinquent development longitudinal survey of development of offending and antisocial behaviour in 411 boys
study began when boys aged 8 in 1961 all living in deproved inner city area of south london
of those sampled 41% convicted at least one offence between 10 and 50
average conviction career lasted from age 19 to 28 and included five convictions
most important childhood risk factor age 8-10 later offending were measures of family criminality daring or risk taking low school attainment poverty and poor parenting
small proportion of pps 7% defined as chronic offenders because accounted for half od all officially recorded offences in study

Question 30

what is shift of focus (differential association theory)

Answer 30

at the time changed focus of offending explanations
sutherland successful in moving emphasis away from early biological accounts of offending and theories that explained offending as being product of individual weakness or immorality
draws attention to fact that deviant social circumstances and environments may be more to blame for offending than deviant people
approach more desirable because offers more realistic solution to problem of offending instead of eugenics or punishment

runs risk of stereotyping individuals who come from pmpoverished crime ridden backgrounds such as unavoidably offenders by case bias
theory tend to suggest that exposure to pro crime values is sufficient to produce offending in those exposed to it
ignores fact people choose not to offend despite such influences as not everyone who is exposed to pro crime attitudes goes on to offend

Question 31

what is wide reach (differential association theory)

Answer 31

can account for offending within all sectors of society
sutherland recognised some types of offence may be clustered within certain inner city working class communities is it also case that some offences clustered more affluent groups
interested in white collar or corporate offences and how this may be feature of middle class social groups who share deviant norms and values
shows not just lower classes who commit offences and that the pricniples of differential association can be used explain all offences

Question 32

what is difficulty testing (differential association theory)

Answer 32

difficult to test predictions of differential association
sutherland aimed provide scientific mathematical framework within future offending behaviour could be predicted and must be testable
many concepts not testable because cant be operationalised
hard to see how the number of pro crime attitudes a person has or has been exposed to could be measured
theory built on assumption that offending behavour occur when pro crime values outnumber anti crime ones
cant know at what point the urge to offend is realised and offending career triggered
theory does not have scientific credibility

Question 33

what is nature or nurture (differential association theory)

Answer 33

sutherland-response of family crucial in determining whether individual likely engage in offending
family seen to support offending activity making seem legitimate and reasonable becomes major influence on childs value system
farrington study intergenerational offneding key feature of findings

offending behaviour seems to run in families interpreted as supporting other explnations
combo of genes or innate neural abnormality predisposes person to offend may be inherited from family members

Question 34

what is the inadequate superego

Answer 34

formed at end of phallic stage when children resolve oedipus complex
works on morality principle and exerts influence by punishing ego through guilt for wrongdoing rewarding it with pride for good moral behaviour
blackburn-superego somehow deficient or inadequate then offending behaviour inevitable because id is given free rein and not controlled
the weak superego-same gender parent absent during phallic stage child cant internalise fully formed superego no opportunity for identification, make immoral or offending behaviour more likely
deviant superego-if superego child internalises has immoral or deviant values this would lead to offending behaviour- boy raised by crimina father not likely associate guilt with wrongdoing
overharsh superego-healthy superego based on identification with parent who firm rules but forgives transgressions, excessively punitive or overly harsh parenting style leads to child with over harsh superego who is crippled by guilt and anxiety may drive individual to perform criminal acts in order to satisfy superegos overwhelming need for punishment

Question 35

what is the role of emotion

Answer 35

effect of inadequate superego allow to primitive emotional demands to become uppermost in guiding moral behaviour
key feature of psychodynamic approach and marks out as different from other explanations of crime that we looked at
psychodynamic deals with emotional life of individual- acknowledges role of anxiety and guilt in development of offending behaviour
lack of guilt i relevant to understanding offending behaviour as in the case of maternal deprivation theory whcih we are about to consider

Question 36

what is the theory of maternal deprivation

Answer 36

bowlby- ability form meaningful relationships in adulthood dependent upon child forming warm continuous relationship with mother figure
failure establish relationship during first few years of life means a child is likely to experience number of damaging and irreversible consequences in later life
development of particular personality type known as affectionless psychopathy characterised by lack of guilt ampahty and feeling for others
maternally deprived individuals likely engage in acts of delinquency and cant develop close relationships with others
bowlby- 44 thieves supported claims, found through interviews with thieves and families that 14 of the sample he studied showed personality and behavioural characteristics that could be classified as affectionless psychopathy
of 14, 12 had experienced prolonged separaton from mothers during infancy
non offender group only two had experienced similar early separation
bowlby concluded effects of maternal deprivation had caused affectionless and delinquent behaviour among juvenile thieves

Question 37

what is research support (psychodynamic)

Answer 37

research support for link between offending and superego
goreta conducted freudian style analysis of ten offenders referred for psychiatric treatment
disturbances in superego formation were diagnosed
each offender experienced unconscious feelings of guilt and need for self punishment
goreta explained this as consequence of over harsh superego the need for punishment manifesting itself as a desire to commit acts of wrongdoing and offend
evidence support role of psychic conflicts and over harsh superego as basis for offending

central principles of inadequate superego not supported
theory were correct expect harsh punitive parents raise children experience feelings of guilt and anxiety
evidence suggests opposite is true
parents who rely on harsher forms of discipline tend to raise children who are rebellous and rarely express feelings of guilt or self criticism
calls into question relationship between strong punitive internal parent and excessive feelings of guilt within child

Question 38

what is gender bias (psychodynamic)

Answer 38

gender biased
implicit assumption within theory is girls develop weaker superego than boys because identification with same gender parent not as strong
girls dont experience intense emotion associated with castration anxiety and under less pressure identify with mothers
their superego less fully realised
implication women should be more prone to offending behaviour than men
rates of imprisonment show opposite more likely to be true- UK 20 times more men are in prison than women
children required resist temptation hoffman found hardly evidence of gender differences and girls tended to be more moral than boys
suggests there is aplha bias at heart of freuds theory and means may not be appropriate as explanation of offneding behaviour

Question 39

what is other factors (psychodynamic)

Answer 39

bowlbys theory is only based on association between maternal deprivation and ofefnding
lewis- analysed data drawn from interviews with 500 young people and found that maternal deprivation was poor predictor of future offending and ability form close relationships in adolescence
even if link between children who have experienced frequent or prolonged separation from their mothers and offending in later life not casual relationship
countless other reasons for apparent link might explain later offending
suggests maternal deprivation may be one of reasons for later offending behaviour but not only reason

Question 40

what is contribution (psychodynamic)

Answer 40

some of first to link early experience in childhood to moral behaviour and offending something now regarded as common sense in contemporary criminology
explanations also drew attention to emotional basis of offending factor largely ignored by other explanations

unconscious concepts within psychodynamic not open empirical testing
absence of supporting evidence arguments such as inadeuqate superego can only be judged on their face value rather than scientific worth